Identify the kind of pronoun underlined in the sentence:
The boys painted the classroom walls themselves, so the school saved the painter’s fee.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Emphatic pronoun
Here “themselves” stresses that the boys, and nobody else, painted the walls. The sentence is complete without it: “The boys painted the classroom walls.”
| Option | Form and use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| (1) Emphatic pronoun (answer) | ends in -self or -selves and stresses the person who did the action | The Chief Minister himself opened the new hospital. |
| (2) Personal pronoun | stands for a particular person or thing, such as she, her or it; it does not end in -self | She works at the post office. |
| (3) Reflexive pronoun | shows the action going back to the doer, and the sentence is not complete without it | Arjun saw himself on the big screen at the stadium. |
| (4) Demonstrative pronoun | points to something, such as this, that, these and those; it does not end in -self | These are the new library books. |